Thursday, June 23, 2016

Notice: I have taken the advice of Gail Winston and have
lowered the type setting to size 11 to save pages for those who print the
weekly Drasha.

Parsha Shelach Lecha

Last week, Rabbi Barak Kochavi Shlita took up the parable
regarding the last Parsha but it is good here. Three men have the same illness
and go to a doctor. The doctor gives instructions to the first and he follows
them to the letter and recovers. The second does research into the disease
follows the doctor’s instructions and recovers. The third thinks he knows
medicine from this research and decides to do something else and dies. This is
what happened with Calev and Yehoshua. They did not question the wisdom of
HASHEM. The other 10 spies did question and they perished.

I am taking an old commentary that I wrote from 5769, revising it
and publishing it. Simply I am traveling and exhausted from what I have done
these last few weeks. I always add something new. Hopefully, I will produce
Parsha Korach and more but I cannot guarantee.

13:1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 2 'Send thou men, that
they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel;
of every tribe of their fathers shall ye send a man, everyone a prince among
them.'

Send for yourself men: Why is the section dealing with the spies juxtaposed with the
section dealing with Miriam? Because she was punished over matters of slander,
for speaking against her brother, and these wicked people witnessed [it], but
did not learn their lesson. — [Midrash Tanchuma Shelach 5] Send for yourself: According
to your own understanding. I am not commanding you, but if you wish, you may
send. Since the Israelites had come [to Moses] and said, “Let us send men ahead
of us,” as it says, “All of you approached me…” (Deut. 1:22), Moses took counsel with
the Shechinah . He [God] said, “I told them that it is good, as it says, ‘I
will bring you up from the affliction of Egypt…’ (Exod. 3:17). By their lives! Now I
will give them the opportunity to err through the words of the spies, so that
they will not inherit it.” - [Midrash Tanchuma 5]

A prince meaning that they were men of renowned.

3
And Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran according to the commandment
of the LORD; all of them men who were heads of the children of Israel. …

The spies had seen the miracles in Egypt and at the Crossing of
the Sea and heard the voice of the L-RD on mount Sinai so that they should have
had faith in the L-RD and not worried
about giants and vast multitude but about the best route to conquer the land.
Thus instead of doing just plain spying like how to get the fortified cities,
their walls height, breath and population of the city, they began to observe
that many people died. (This was to further disguise their purpose.) Instead
they report Lashon Hara on a land “Eretz that gobbles up its inhabitants.”

They were very close to entering Eretz Yisrael

16
These are the names of the men that Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses
called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

By adding on a Yud, he gave Yehoshua Koach from HASHEM.

17
And Moses sent them to spy out the land of Canaan, and said unto them: 'Get you
up here into the South, and go up into the mountains; 18 and see the land, what
it is; and the people that dwells therein, whether they are strong or weak,
whether they are few or many;

This command was to be
their downfall.

19
and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it is good or bad; and what
cities they are that they dwell in, whether in camps, or in strongholds; 20 and
what the land is, whether it is fat or lean, whether there is wood therein, or
not. And be ye of good courage, and bring of the fruit of the land.'--Now the
time was the time of the first-ripe grapes.—

All this was normal intelligence gathering. However, Moshe should
not have asked this and the report should never have been public. The 10 other
spies were supposed to be able to check these items and that would suffice.

21
So they went up, and spied out the land from the wilderness of Zin unto Rehov,
at the entrance to Hamat.

Northern Syria.

22
And they went up into the South, and came unto Hebron; and Ahiman, Sheshai, and
Talmai, the children of Anak, were there.--Now Hebron was built seven years
before Zoan in Egypt.-- 23 And they came unto the valley of Eshcol, and cut
down from thence a branch with one cluster of grapes, and they bore it upon a
pole between two; they took also of the pomegranates, and of the figs.-- 24
That place was called the valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the
children of Israel cut down from thence.

Gigantic pieces of fruit. This should have shown the people the
blessing. Instead the Lashon Hara about things were controlled by giants in the
land.

25
And they returned from spying out the land at the end of forty days. 26 And
they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the
children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word
unto them, and unto all the congregation, and showed them the fruit of the
land. 27 And they told him, and said: 'We came unto the land whither thou sent
us, and surely it flows with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28
Howbeit the people that dwell in the land are fierce, and the cities are
fortified, and very great; and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29
Amalek dwells in the land of the South; and the Hittite, and the Jebusite, and
the Amorite, dwell in the mountains; and the Canaanite dwells by the sea, and
along by the side of the Jordan.' 30 And Caleb stilled the people toward Moses,
and said: 'We should go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to
overcome it.' 31 But the men that went up with him said: 'We are not able to go
up against the people; for they are stronger than we.' 32 And they spread an
evil report of the land which they had spied out unto the children of Israel,
saying: 'The land, through which we have passed to spy it out, is a land that
eats up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men
of great stature. 33 And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come
of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were
in their sight.'

The enemy was taller and stronger in girth. This put panic into
the hearts of these spies that had lost the fear of G-D and began fearing man.

14:1
And all the congregation lifted up their voice, and cried; and the people wept
that night.

The night of Tisha B’Av!

11
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'How long will this people despise Me? and how
long will they not believe in Me, for all the signs which I have wrought among
them? 12 I will smite them with the pestilence, and destroy them, and will make
of thee a nation greater and mightier than they.'

This is another example of G-D becoming furious at Am Yisrael’s
misbehavior.

Moshe began talking face to face with G-D to avoid the evil that HE planned for Am Yisrael. So Moshe
prayed and the repentance prayer worked. …

19
Pardon, I pray Thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness
of Thy lovingkindness, and according as Thou hast forgiven this people, from
Egypt even until now.' 20 And the LORD said: 'I have pardoned according to thy
word. 21 But in very deed, as I live--and all the earth shall be filled with
the glory of the LORD-- 22 surely all those men that have seen My glory, and My
signs, which I wrought in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to proof
these ten times, and have not hearkened to My voice; 23 surely they shall not
see the land which I swore unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that
despised Me see it. 24 But My servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with
him, and hath followed Me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he
went; and his seed shall possess it. 25 Now the Amalekite and the Canaanite
dwell in the Vale; tomorrow turn ye, and get you into the wilderness by the way
to the Red Sea.'

26
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying: 27 'How long shall I bear
with this evil congregation, that keep murmuring against Me? I have heard the
murmurings of the children of Israel, which they keep murmuring against Me. 28 Say
unto them: As I live, says the LORD, surely as ye have spoken in Mine ears, so
will I do to you: 29 your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness, and all that
were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and
upward, ye that have murmured against Me; 30 surely ye shall not come into the
land, concerning which I lifted up My hand that I would make you dwell therein,
save Caleb the son of Yephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun.

The only spies that spoke the truth even if it would cost them
their job in the future. The others liked their status quo in the desert. Now

43
For there the Amalekite and the Canaanite are before you, and ye shall fall by
the sword; forasmuch as ye are turned back from following the LORD, and the
LORD will not be with you.' 44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain;
nevertheless the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and Moses, departed not out
of the camp. 45 Then the Amalekite and the Canaanite, who dwelt in that
hill-country, came down, and smote them and beat them down, even unto Hormah.

After receiving a curse from HASHEM for their behavior, and now
finally the internal affairs are finished. However, now they faced an external
threat in the form of Amalek.

32
And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man
gathering sticks upon the Sabbath day.

Another violation this time of Shabbos.

33
And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and
unto all the congregation. 34 And they put him in ward, because it had not been
declared what should be done to him. 35
And the LORD said unto Moses: 'The man shall surely be put to death; all the
congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.' 36 And all the
congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he
died, as the LORD commanded Moses.

This is an obvious violation of the Shabbos to show the people the
public humiliation and punishment for somebody who violates Shabbos in this
world. All the more so in the next world.

37
And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: 38 'Speak unto the children of Israel,
and bid them that they make them throughout their generations fringes in the
corners of their garments, and that they put with the fringe of each corner a
thread of blue. 39 And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon
it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them; and that ye go
not about after your own heart and your own eyes, after which ye use to go
astray; 40 that ye may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy unto
your God. 41 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
to be your God: I am the LORD your God.'

My son Asher was about 4 years old when he said to me “Aba, you
know that I can tell the real frum children from the externally religious
children. The real ones are wearing Tzitzis and the not so religious ones
without Tzitzis.” Therefore if a young child can see that all the more so the
all-seeing Creator.

At the expense of
great travail and even life itself, many chasidic scholars and leaders sought
to support The Land. Some even 'madeAliyah' (moved to Israel) during the country's most
tumultuous periods, while those who lived abroad dedicated their lives to
raising funds for Jewish settlements within the Holy Land. Overall, the Land of
Israel has always captured the heart of chasidism with an enduring love and
enthusiasm.
Chasidic annals offer up quite a number of
incredulous stories highlighting the holiness inherent in The Land.

1) One time a chasid came from Jerusalem to visit
Lubavitch (a small town now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, which served as the
Chabad movement's headquarters for over a century). The third Lubavitcher
Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn (known as theTzemach Tzedek), came to greet him wearing his Shabbat clothes
out of respect for the holiness of Eretz Yisrael.

2) A wealthy Jew from Ruzhin (Russia) once
travelled to the Land of Israel for a visit. Upon his return, he sought an
audience with theRebbe of
Ruzhin and complained that he didn't find the Holy Land to be an
especially attractive place.
The Rebbe told him: "There was once a wealthy
Jew who married off all his daughters to Torah scholars. However, he couldn't
find a suitable groom for his oldest one and married her off to a simple
tailor. Before her wedding, he told her to adorn herself to look pleasing for
her soon-to-be husband. She said: 'For the tailor, I am attractive enough as I
am.' So it is with the Land of Israel," said the Rebbe. "For those
capable of appreciating her lofty degree of holiness, she is sufficiently
adorned. However, for those immersed in materiality, she appears to them like
any other land."

3) A similar story revolved around a Polish chasid
who traveled to The Land and made his home in Jerusalem. After a period of
time, he found he couldn't adjust to the conditions life in that city required,
and he decided to make his way back to Poland. Before his departure, he wanted
to first take leave from thetzadik,Rabbi Simcha-Bunim of Varki, who lived in Jerusalem. Upon hearing his reasons
for wanting to leave, the tzadik groaned from the depths of his heart and said:
"I feel a great deal of pity for you. Apparently, you were not pleasing to
Jerusalem. If only this been the case, you would have found Jerusalem pleasing
as well."

The Rebbe's words penetrated deeply on the Polish
chasid and he decided to remain.

4) Shortly after the well-publicizedAliyahof thetzadik,Rabbi Menachem Mendel of Vitepsk, who brought along with him a large contingent of
chasidim, one chasid approached him and related the following: "I thought
that by makingaliyah, it
would become easier to serve G-d. However, it is even more difficult now than
it was while living outside of the Holy Land."
Rabbi Menachem Mendel answered: "Here you are
mistaken. For you see, while you were living abroad, your divine service was
tainted by pride. And because there was a vested interest in this service, you
didn't feel the difficulties involved. But now that you are in the Holy Land,
you have been brought automatically to a sense of self-nullification. You now
therefore sense the lack of your own personal service as a direct result of
being stripped of vested interests, and you suddenly feel the difficulty
involved."

5) Upon the founding of Kfar Chabad Village
outside of Tel Aviv, the sixth Lubavitcher Rebbe,Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn (the
Rebbe Rayatz), sent a special epistle to the Chassidim there. Among the ideas
he mentioned was the following: "Divine Providence has brought you to 'A
land upon which the eyes of the L-rd your G-d are always upon it, from the
beginning of the year even unto the end of the year' (Deut. 11:12). You are
residing in the King's palace at every moment."

6)Rabbi
Yehoshua from Kotna once traveled to the Land of Israel, and took in
all the holiest sites amidst their destruction and desolation. When he
returned, the inhabitants of his city arranged a large banquet in his honor,
and asked him to describe his impressions. "As you are all well
aware," Rabbi Yehoshua sighed, "the country still lies in desolation.
However, there is one thing which is as fresh and vibrant as it was all the way
back in the times of the Second Temple..." All those present strained to
catch what the Rabbi would say next. "…And that is unwarranted hatred.
Alas, it is still in existence in full force."

In this regard,Rabbi
Shneur-Zalman (the founder of Chabad Chassidus) issued a
strict warning to be especially wary of unwarranted hatred in the Holy Land, as
ever since the Second Temple's destruction, a spiritual impression had been
left on the land, generating a tendency toward this destructive force.

I received this piece of research from Dr. Harry: CBS really missed the mark with their
claim that Orlando was the deadliest shooting in American history, underscoring
the mainstream media’s inability to do even the most basic research and their
inability to correct or retract bad information. This is by no means an all-encompassing
list, and the main reason for posting it is to underscore that the worst
atrocities and mass killings were perpetrated mostly by government entities
and/or targeting those least capable of defending themselves.

The 17th century has multiple massacres against
Native Americans that easily exceed the carnage of Orlando. Native American
history is also part of American History.

The Colfax Massacre (1873): White Democrats armed with rifles and a small
cannon overpowered the Republican freedmen and state militia trying to control
the Grant Parish courthouse in Colfax. Estimates of the number of dead vary and
are hard to determine, due to bodies being thrown into the river, but are
somewhere between 62 and 153. Nearly 50 were killed after being held prisoner
for several hours.

Wounded Knee Massacre (1890): Previously mentioned, and the number of
fatalities is somewhere between 150 and 300.

The Tulsa Race Riot (1921): A large scale, racially-motivated conflict where a
group of whites attacked the black community of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Fatality
estimates are between 55 and 300, though the official number was 39.
Thirty-five city blocks were destroyed, leaving an estimated 10,000 blacks
homeless.

The Marias Massacre/Baker Massacre/Piegan Massacre (1870): The massacre of a
friendly band of Piegan Blackfeet Indians by the United States Army. About 200
Indians were killed, mostly women, children, and elderly men. Fifty of the
victims were children under 12 years old.

The Mountain Meadows Massacre (1857): A series of attacks on the Baker-Fancher
emigrant wagon train at Mountain Meadows in southern Utah by the Utah
Territorial Militia from the Iron County district, together with some Paiute
Indians. Approximately 120 men, women, and children were killed. Only children
younger than seven were spared.

The Davidian Massacre (1993): A siege and subsequent massacre of the religious
group Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas by a joint operation of federal and Texas
state law enforcement that resulted in the death of 81 men, women, and
children. Video evidence exists of operators firing automatic weapons at the
compound, keeping the occupants pinned down inside as it burned to the ground.

I
was cleaning up another mail box that I used to use. I get my Sky and
Telescope there and I came across this juicy bit from the late Emmanuel
Winston in an introduction to another piece but it wakes us up. At the time of
his writing the US Debt was $13 trillion not close to $20 trillion we are now
at close to the point of no return. He has about a half year left and is still
pushing Kerry upon us.

President Barack Hussein Obama need no longer
deny his deep animus and commitments to the elimination of the only decent,
humanitarian and democratic nation in the Middle East. Obama is no different
than the Lebanese Helen Thomas who barely kept her visceral hatred for the
Jewish State in check.

Perhaps one day a psychiatrist will explore the
pathology of a man who is half black, half Muslim, half /half Christian – as
Rev. Jeremiah Wright would have it.A man who believes the declarations he makes –
only to act out the lie in the promises he made.

The old saying of: “Know your enemy by the
friends he makes and keeps close” would make a year’s class in abnormal
psychology in any top university. Look at the list of 35 to 45 Czars and
Czarinas Obama has selected for their warped Left, Liberal ideology and
understand why America is crashing with an unpayable debt of more than $13
TRILLION Dollars and growing.

Then take another look at his passion to bond
with some of the most Terrorist nations on our Planet which makes the
designation of “Alien” even more applicable.